 Holden High
School’s new track project took the final
step to reality at the R-III district regular monthly school
board meeting last Thursday night, but not without some last
minute negotiations, as bids came in much higher than expected.
The district, which had expected the project to cost approximately
$300,000, received three bids - the lowest of which was $479,530
from Tandem Paving in Blue Springs. District superintendent
Scott Slava and the project’s architect representative
met with the two low bidders and after making some revisions
in bid specifications, such as using asphalt instead of concrete
in walkways, winning bidder Tandem presented a final bid
of $396,085.
Adding in work already completed and architect’s fees,
the final project came to just over $457,000. Slava then
met with the anonymous donor and F&C Bank and Bank of Holden
presidents Bob Mickey and Mike Terry, who had already pledged
a combined $150,000 to the project. After learning of developments,
the donor and two banks offered an additional $75,000 in donations. The
board approved the superintendent’s recommendation to fund
the remaining portion of the project from fund four capital projects
money.
“We were extremely disappointed the bids came in so high, but with the
generosity of the $225,000 in donations, we felt this was a prime opportunity
to get this much-needed projected accomplished,” the superintendent stated.
With the new track, which is expected to be completed by the
end of October, the school will be able to host track meets -
something Holden has not been able to do for several years.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
Area residents
will soon have the opportunity to buy land that would allow them
the opportunity to build a lakefront home just west of Holden.
This opportunity materialized when longtime residents, John and
Jean Kesterson, decided to sell their home, adjoining land and
lake due to health reasons.
Known simply as Kesterson’s Lake, the property is being
offered for sale by its new owner, Bill Haynes, a native Missourian
and resident of Tulsa, OK.
According to Stacy Lee, a sales representative of Williams and
Williams, a nationwide real estate auction company who is handling
the sale, Haynes saw great potential in the property and thought
it could be one of the more beautiful building sites in the state
of Missouri.
“Residents now have an opportunity to own a small piece of this property
and the owner wanted everyone to have a chance to do just that,” said
Lee.
Although the lake has always been much admired by area residents,
the new owner hired local bulldozer operator Bill Doutt to begin
clearing some of the property next to the lake and Lee says the
result has been very positive.
“Today (Thursday) is the first day I’ve been at the site since
we hired Mr. Doutt and since clearing out much of the property, it resembles
a park-like setting.”
The auction is scheduled for Friday, August 4 with bidding beginning
at 6 p.m.
Offered first will be parcel one which includes 9.3 acres, the
three-bedroom, two-bath home that overlooks the lake and the
large building west of the home that once housed Kesterson’s
Antiques. It will be conducted as a typical dollar auction with
an opening bid of $25,000.
The additional acreage is divided into nine other parcels. Parcel
two contains 28.3 acres with county road and lake frontage; parcel
three contains 37.8 acres with county road and lake frontage;
parcel four contains 18.7 acres with county road and lake frontage;
parcel five is 7.5 acres lakefront; parcel six is 7.5 acres and
fronts the middle of the lake; parcel seven is 7.5 acres lakefront;
parcel eight is 6.4 acres and is lakefront near the dam with
county road and highway frontage, parcel nine is 30.5 acres and
is located on the east side of Hwy. 58 with a creek on the back
side of the property; parcel 10 is 40.2 acres with a creek running
through the property.
Parcels two through 10 will be sold in a method called “buyer’s
choice” which is to accommodate buyers who have an interest
in more than one parcel of land. The high bidder will have the
opportunity to choose which parcel they want and the high bid
price is paid for each property selected. Any remaining properties
would then be offered in another round of bidding. The second
high bidders, however, do not win a right to choose. The opening
bid for the acreage is $500 per acre.
According to Lee, the sites have access to public water and come
with the following restrictions: no junk, unlicensed or inoperative
vehicles, no mobile homes or manufactured housing and no commercial
livestock operations including dog kennels.
Kesterson’s Lake and the adjoining properties is located
just west of Holden on 58 Highway.
The property will be open to potential buyers on July 23 and
30 from 1-4 p.m. and one hour prior to the sale.
By Rusty Hartwell
Publisher
If
one of the hottest summers in recent history has been getting
you down and you don’t feel there’s anyplace to cool
off, take heart because Maw and Paw’s Oasis swimming pool
is opening for business Saturday with free swimming from 1 to
5 p.m.
The pool, located in the Holden City Park, has undergone an almost
miraculous transformation from the “gunk-filled” receptacle
featured in the June 8 edition of the Holden Image, to the sparkling
oasis that new owners Dan and Connie Plemons of Kingsville hoped
it would become.
The couple says that the pool will continue to be open past Labor
Day and will stay open until it’s too cold to swim. They
will also have a one-half price swim day on Aug 16 for a back-to-school
party.
Prices to swim include: ages two and under, free; three
to four years old, $1.50; five to 54, $3.00; and 55 and over,
$1.50. The Plemons will also have a prorated season pass
on sale for $50.
Party prices are $25 per hour with up to 25 people in the water. A
$6 per hour charge is added if a lifeguard is required. Party-goers
may also choose to have the concession stand open or closed.
The Plemons family has rushed to get the pool open this season,
but have some possible future plans in mind. “We
hope to be able to cover the whole pool and keep it open year-round,” stated
Connie.
One of the new rules at the pool is that no children under 48
inches tall will be admitted without an adult.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The final
juvenile suspect being sought in conjunction with the rash of
burglaries that have occurred in Holden and Johnson County recently
was apprehended by Holden City Police in a foot chase last week.
According to HPD chief Ed Bone, the police department had received
an anonymous tip that the suspect was “holed-up” in
a residence on East 16th St. They had also received information
from two other juveniles already in custody in conjunction with
the burglaries that the individual had boasted that “he
wouldn’t be taken alive and that he had a shotgun.”
The chief stated that the suspect had been in juvenile detention
before and had stated to the other juveniles that he “wasn’t
going back there.” Working on this information, Chief
Bone, assistant chief Rick Martin and Sergeant Gene Parker approached
the residence and banged on the door shouting that they were
the police and that the suspect should come out.
“Then the garage door opened and he (the suspect) bolted like a rabbit,” Chief
Bone explained. “He ran to the north and got over the fence on
16th Street and was running into the field to the woods that border the city
park when Sergeant Parker overtook the suspect and restrained him. After
that he offered no more resistance.”
Chief Bone stated that there had been one more individual questioned
about the burglaries, but after cooperating with the police,
the individual had been released and not charged in the affair.
He also stated that there has been a recent surge in juvenile
crime, not only in Johnson County, but in Missouri and throughout
the United States.
“I don’t know what the answer to this problem is,
but the juveniles seem to know they can get away with it and
it’s not slowing down,” the
chief explained.
“We seem to be chasing the same group of kids and it gets old. They
need to be stopped.”
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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A public hearing
to discuss the possibility of closing 13th Street between Main
Street and Market Street has been called for August 8 at 6 p.m.,
prior to the regular August City Council meeting.
The hearing was called after the city’s planning and zoning
board discussed the request by Danny Crews to close the street
which is platted, but has never been developed. The discussion
took place at the board’s meeting last Tuesday night.
At the meeting, Mayor Mike Wakeman stated that the 60-feet of undeveloped
roadway would take the distance necessary for a city street right
up to the house’s foundations. Board chairman Jim
Nippko said that his thoughts were that the roadway wouldn’t
probably be developed anyway.
There were no objections to the closure by the zoning board and
member Jack Wharton suggested the request by Crews was reasonable
and that neighbors in the area concur in the request.
The board also reviewed the ordinances dealing with modular and
mobile homes.
The mayor stated that the planning and zoning board needed to be
a large part of the process to monitor requests for mobile and
modular sites. “The board is here for a reason,” Mayor
Wakeman stated. “We need to let them do their work
and support their decisions.”
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The Holden
R-III School Board agreed to table a third reading and vote on
the proposed new drug testing policy for students participating
in extracurricular activities during their meeting Thursday night. Slava
suggested the action as “lawyers had not finished their
review of the policy.”
The board had first reading on many policies including making the
district entirely tobacco-free. Board president Jeff Miller
explained that the Crest Ridge district has adopted the policy,
but “Can we enforce it? I don’t want to make
any policy that we can’t enforce.” Slava asked, “Do
we want our patrons to have to change behavior in this way?”
Miller concluded discussion on the topic by saying, “This
is something we should think very hard about.” The
second reading will come at the next regularly scheduled meeting
of the board.
During the reports section of the meeting, middle school principal
Gregg Montgomery stated that each school has instituted a program
which provides indicators to identify students who are “at
risk.” Also, each school has programs in place which
deal with these students.
Reporting on the district’s disciplinary instances over the
past school year, Montgomery showed where in the elementary school non-bus
occurrences of discipline were up, while they were down in the
intermediate school. Non-bus occurrences decreased in the
middle school and increased in the high school.
He stated that there were really no differences in the kinds of
instances which required discipline from years past.
The transportation, food service and auxiliary services reports
were presented by the district’s director of auxiliary services
Larry Arnone. As part of the reports he said that there was
a profit of $36,000 in food service, which went to purchase two
new milk coolers.
As part of the superintendent’s report, Slava relayed a congratulations
letter from the Missouri State High School Activities Association
(MSHSAA) to the high school’s boys, chamber and mixed choirs
for displaying outstanding excellence during the state championships
this spring.
In new business, the board voted to keep the lunch and breakfast
prices the same and awarded bids in the milk, bread and fuel areas. Sunnyside
Dairy of Harrisonville was awarded the milk contract, while Interstate
Brands Corp. of Columbia won the bread contract. MFA
Oil Co. of Warrensburg was awarded the fuel agreement.
In a final action during open session, the tax rate hearing was
set for August 14 at 7 p.m.
During the closed executive session, the resignation of Amy Allen,
a fifth-grade teacher, was accepted. Hired were Chris Hunt,
middle school assistant football coach; Mark Wakeman, bus driver;
Jeanna Cooper, cook; Jamie Barbour, color guard; and Duane Stowell,
in-school suspension monitor.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The first step
in hiring a new Holden city prosecutor was taken at the regular
meeting of the City Council last Tuesday night, as an ordinance
appointing local attorney Michael P. Branson to that position was
read for the first time.
The second reading and a vote on the ordinance is planned for the
next council meeting August 8.
The prosecutor’s duties will include those tasks necessary
to enforce the laws and ordinances of the city of Holden through
the municipal court system, including any appeals. The prosecutor
will not be involved in civil law matters, which are the responsibility
of the city attorney, Joe Willerth and firm.
According to Mayor Mike Wakeman, the change in prosecutors is a
matter of the new candidate being local and his services can be
contracted for a lower amount. The contract will call for
Branson’s time to be paid for at the rate of $130 per hour.
In other business, the council agreed to disregard a resolution
to make application for a Downtown Revitalization Economic Assistance
for Missouri (DREAM) grant, on the advice of Dwight Anstine, speaking
for a committee that had been formed to look into downtown revitalization.
Anstine suggested that the council “pass for this year” as
the application process, with a deadline of August 1, was too lengthy
to complete properly in that time frame. He also stated
that now was the time to begin compiling the necessary information
to put together the application for next year. His final
suggestion to the council was to look into the possibility of getting
either a part-time or full-time city manager/administrator to
assist in the day-to-day running of the city. Part
of his duties would be to work on compiling data for a comprehensive
city plan, which could be used for information in grant applications
among other areas.
In a unanimous vote, the council agreed to renew the city’s
insurance policy with Mike Keith Insurance. Total premium
for the policy is $40,288, which reflects an approximately four
percent raise from last year. Keith stated the minor changes
in autos and property prompted the rate hike. He also stated
that there are no major changes in the policy and it meets the
limit of “Sovereign Immunity.”
In other council business, Tracy E. Brantner, executive director
of the new Johnson County Economic Development Corp., spoke to
the council members to explain the services she can offer to support
the city in its economic development.
Also addressing the council was Carolyn Corson, consultant, with
Administration Enterprises of Warrensburg. Corson outlined
her experience in grant writing and administration for the council. She
also answered questions from the council and mayor during a discussion
of the possibility of the city pursuing a grant writer for the
municipality.
In other city business, Kathy Lay was appointed to take over the
vacant seat on the police merit board due to the death of Homer
Frisbey. According to the mayor, there is still one vacant
position on the merit board and one on the board of public works.
In a final item, the city voted to erect stop signs on north and
southbound Grand Street at the intersection of Chestnut Street. The
intersection is near the Chestnut Street baseball and softball
fields.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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